* arrival: pitch black, driving rain, but guest house was open.
* after a day in Arusha our guide picked us up in a land rover, (designed as part light truck, part tractor) we set out on a five hour drive to the Serengeti through the rift valley. Once we reached the ngorongoro conservation area – a place where maasi can live as well as a national park – we realised that the land rover could handle the unmade road.
We put up the tent and had dinner.
The next day we saw a host of animals: hippos lounging in the river, giraffes, elephants, thousands of wildebeests and zebras heading south for the green pastures which form after the rainy season and the predators which follow them: lions, cheetahs, jackals and hyenas.
The next day we headed back but went through the ngorongoro crater, which was spectacular. It was formed when a large volcano erupted and then collapsed on itself some 2-3 million years ago. The crater is some 600m deep and 100 square miles in area. The soil is rich and when we were there it was incredibly lush. It was packed with wildlife – we saw a lioness with her two cubs. When she left to seek shade by a vehicle we could hear the cubs calling for their mother!